


Atop the Gardens

by spacexual



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Combat, M/M, One Shot, Sort of? - Freeform, every man for himself, fight, maybe ill add pictures, mybe, tournament, uhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 02:50:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacexual/pseuds/spacexual
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Malik was an angry kid - yet there was only one boy he ever showed an interest in. His name was Altair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Atop the Gardens

**Author's Note:**

> yeah guys i've only played ac1 and i'm still working through ac2 so i apologise for any details about altair/the order that have been revealed in ac:b or ac:r that arent in here. if you notice any flaws(in my writing, in the logic of the story, etc) please don't hesitate tp tell me! i'm always open to constfuctive criticism! thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Malik was an angry kid.

 To speak with him was to become subject to insults and scathing cruel words. But his one redeeming quality was his handsomeness. Those who roomed with him were considered lucky and envied (homosexuality was fairly common in the Order, and Malik was the most sought after). The poor kid woke almost every day to a love letter in his bedside cubbyhole or to smiles radiating across rooms. And yet there was only one kid that Malik ever showed an interest in - an awkward, lanky boy named Altair. The two were always together - eating their lunch, always saving seats for each other in their classes. The other trainees had either given up on acquiring Malik or were awaiting the day that the two fought. The few straight boys were all too eager for the two to get together and for the sexual tension between them to come to an end. Odd was the day that the two weren't constantly being bombarded by cries of "Get a room!" It was the day that their class was finally graduating from one-to-one combat to group, every-man-for-himself fights. Of course Malik and Altair were pitted against each other, with their other opponent an Egyptian boy named Sutekh who had perpetual eye hemorrhage. The fight began with the teacher - a senior Assassin temporarily out of the field - laying down the rules (no holds barred; to win you must hold each opponent to the ground for at least five seconds) and making sure that everyone else was out of the ring and had a clear view(everyone all did).

    The competitors were shirtless and barefoot, with tight - fitting pants to make it harder for their adversaries to grab them. Before the fight, when Altair and Sutekh were being herded into the ring, Malik had received a series of catcalls when he took off his shirt. The boy had half - smiled to himself, enjoying the attention. Now, he quickly evaluated his competition: Altair had finally grown into his lankiness and was (attractively) lean. Sutekh was compact and muscular. Malik himself was built more like Sutekh, but was also taller. The gist of the matter was that Altair was lean and tall and powerful, Sutekh was quick on his feet and agile, and Malik was squarely in the middle - fairly balanced in both fields; not much to speak of physically in comparison to the other two. His one advantage was that he was cunning.

    The teacher - Sideen was his name - raised his hand to signal the beginning of the fight; the crowd began shouting and half - hiding their bidding(they knew Sideen couldn't care less what they did but they didn't want to be caught by another passing Assassin, either). Meanwhile in the ring, the three boys cautiously moved around in an awkward triangle shape, with each boy as a point. Yells and encouragements continuously barraged the competitors' ears, until one  of the three couldn't take it anymore and struck. That boy was Malik. He tackled Sutekh, taking him by surprise and knocking him over. Sutekh fell to the ground, where Malik straddled Sutekh and held his victim's arms above his head and began the wait for the necessary five seconds. Sutekh made no effort to resist - in fact he was almost blushing (he was closer to Malik than any other trainee, in that position)- until the fifth and final second, when he seemed to realise that he was about to lose, and so he kneed Malik in the gut.

     Malik crumpled on top of Sutekh, whooshing the air out of him. Sutekh stiffened momentarily then shoved Malik off of himself and got up, circling around to face Altair. Malik lay on the ground, clutching his stomach. Cries of protest and boos against Malik filled the air. Meanwhile, Altair feinted left, then punched Sutekh's stomach and chest. Sutekh tensed up and winced, but didn't make a sound. The two then exchanged a flurry of jabs and punches, each more painful than the last. He then neatly dodged Altair's coming punch and grabbed the offending arm, twisting it and deadlegging Altair in one fluid movement. Altair fell to the groud heavily, gasping as Sutekh began kicking him to a chorus of Finish him!s. On the other side of the ring, Malik had regained his feet and recovered from the knee-ing. He strode towards Sutekh and kicked him squarely in the small of his back, knocking him over on top of Altair, who grunted in protest. Malik kicked Sutekh off of his friend and straddled him again, this time making sure that his legs were unable to hurt him. On the outside of the ring, Sideen called each second - one - two - three - four - five! -with the crowd of trainees, and just like that, Sutekh was out of the ring. He was quickly surrounded by boys: the Malik - worshippers, wanting to know what Malik felt like, was his skin as soft as it looked, that sort of thing; and boys ragging on him for letting himself lose.

     Boys paid more attention than ever now, for the real fight was about to begin. Both of the competitors clearly didn't want to fight the other, but it had to be done. Altair sidled closer to Malik, then curled his fingers and thumb back as far as her could and rammed the heel of his palm into Malik's face. A sickening cra-ack flitted through the now - silent air. Malik stumbled back clutching his nose. When he drew his hand away, his now clearly broken nose was oozing blood all over the place. Malik truly looked furious now. Altair repeated the movement again to Malik's stomach, to his chest, to his face again(eliciting a sharp whimper from Malik and a series of yells following). Altair hit him again again again. The crowd yelled at Malik; why wasn't he fighting back, he can do better than that, come on come on come on Malik hit him why can'tyouhithimMalikyou'regoingtoloseMalikMalikMalikMal ikMal i kM a l i k  M a l i k

     Malik, now bruising all over the place, nose bleeding profusely, dodged out of Altair's oncoming hand for the first time. He viciously kneed Altair as he passed Malik, then grabbed the tall boy's body before it hit the ground. He held Altair at arm's length and punched him in the face one, two, three times. When he pulled away from Altair, Altair's lip was split and blood was running rivers down his face and off of Malik's knuckles. Malik stared at his friend's bleeding lip and nose. As he watched, Altair lifted his hand to wipe away the blood running down the side of his lips. He sniffed his nose as he looked at his bloody hand, then looked up at Malik with a face that asked why. A face that asked what did I do wrong? What made you want to hurt me like this? Malik stared at the ground, ashamed. He blinked his dark chocolatey eyes at Altair as a silent apology then stepped up to him. He winded back and punched Altair's gut, bringing him to the ground. He got o his knees and leaned over Altair to make sure that he didn't get up. Altair's yellowish eyes stared at him accusingly, then looked away, as if he didn't care to even look at Malik anymore. Malik's broken nose dripped blood onto Altair's bruised torso. He lazily watched it run down his friend's side as Sideen and the trainees counted to five.

     Malik stood up and glanced around as Altair was carried out by some boys to the medical centre of the fortress. He stared around at the bloody dirt in the ring, then climbed over the fence. Instantly he was surrounded by the other trainees telling him congratulations and tenderly touching his bruises and asking if they hurt (no shit the bruises hurt he thought) and if there was anything they could do to make it better(they could leave him alone he told them to no avail) and holding his arm up in triumph(he'd asked them to stop twice now; they still refused to listen) and finally he got fed up and simply left. He dragged out a blanket and a lantern to he and Altair's secret meeting place - a small  nook in the side of one of the fortress walls, by the concubine's gardens. He and Altair used to climb over the thin blocks of marble that were held up by pillars - two birds alone above the world. They'd make snarky comments about the Assassins who ventured out to the gardens beneath them and dare each other the hang off the edge.

     Malik hoped, as he sat with his legs over the edge of one such marble block, that he hadn't damaged their relationship too much. He still hoped there would be times like those in the future, with him and Altair.❥

 

 

| Chapter end


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